Football
ESPN staff 6y

Harry Kane sets Prem record for goals in one year, overtakes Messi

Harry Kane broke Alan Shearer's Premier League record for goals in a calendar year as he put Tottenham in front in their 5-2 win against Southampton on Tuesday.

Kane went on to score a hat trick, with the second of those three goals seeing him move ahead of Barcelona forward Lionel Messi for the most goals for club and country by any player in Europe's major leagues in 2017.

Kane has 39 league goals and 56 goals for Spurs and England in 2017, while Messi hit 54 for Barcelona and Argentina. Kane's tally breaks a seven-year run of either Messi or Ronaldo finishing as the top scorer for club and country while playing in Europe's top five leagues.

"I'm very proud," Kane said of finishing above his La Liga rivals. "Messi and Ronaldo have dominated football for so long and they're two of the greatest players ever so it's an honour to even be compared to them.

"I'll keep working harder, it's about finding little percents to get better and doing things on the training ground to make you better. There's a great staff here and a great manager here who will keep pushing me, don't you worry about that! I'll have to take [my teammates] out for dinner to thank them!"

Shearer, who set the previous Premier League record with 36 goals in 1995 with Blackburn, sent Kane a message of congratulations from his Twitter account, saying: "You've had a magnificent 2017 @HKane. You deserve to hold the record of most @premierleague goals in a calendar year. Well done and keep up the good work." 

Kane told Sky Sports it was a "great feeling" to break Shearer's record.

"It was hard not to think about it going into the game being level," he said. "As always I wanted to win the game first and foremost, but of course I wanted to score as a striker. To get that goal early on and get that record was a great feeling and I could enjoy the rest of the game.

"This year I would say physically I have improved, recovery from games, getting ready, we have such a busy schedule. Just making sure I'm ready for each game, eating right, recovering right with ice baths. I feel really good. I feel sharp and at my best.

"Just getting more experience should make me a better player anyway."

On the part played by his Spurs teammates, Kane added: "When we are in that form and we've got everyone running forward and quick passes, one-twos, we are a hard team to stop.

"I said to the lads before the game to try and set me up and they all did that, so I'll have to take them out to dinner or something."

When asked for his favourite goals of the year, Kane said: "I liked the second one against Huddersfield from outside the box with the left foot. That was nice.

"That third goal today was good; the third goal against Burnley I think summed up how I play with the tackle and then the touch and finish, so there's been some good goals but hopefully some better ones in 2018."

Information from The Press Association was used in this report.

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